10 Ways to Balance Life, Work, and Kids’ Activities… Or Atleast How To Fake It

Having a busy schedule is part of life when you’re a mom. Finding ways to balance life, work, and kids activities will help you keep the chaos to a minimum! Connie shares a few tips with us on how she balances her crazy busy, wonderful life!

10 Ways to Balance Life, Work, and Kids’ Activities

…Or At Least How to Fake It

Life is busy. Crazy busy. I thought maybe life would slow down once I had kids (nope!). Then I thought it might slow down a little bit once the kids were in school (nope, again!). The truth of the matter is, as far as my own crazy life, a lot of it is my own fault. I want my kids to be active and involved in sports and activities if they want to be. I want to play volleyball. If my husband wants to bowl, I want my husband to bowl. I want to be busy. I want to enjoy life—all of it—time with friends, and family and activities. Balancing it all—now that’s a challenge.

Currently, I work 5 different part time jobs. Some are as little as 4-5 hours a week, some are every other week jobs, but all of them are jobs that I enjoy doing. I do all of these during the day while my children are in school. I play volleyball one night a week and coach my daughter’s t-ball team as well.

Currently, my son is playing both baseball and soccer. This means he usually has two games per week of each sport and at least two practices. Sometimes we miss practice for a game, but we make as much as we can. My daughter is playing t-ball and taking dance and tumbling classes. Again, this means one night a week at the dance studio and usually two games a week. My husband works full time and bowls one night a week. Most weeks, we have at least one activity per evening, many times, two. On especially rough weeks, we have three in one night and have to miss something.

So how do I keep it all together?!

Create a visual

In order to keep my life straight, I sit down every Sunday and write out all of the things I have to do that week, starting with Monday. I make a daily list, and then try to check items off as I get them done every day. Having this visual helps me keep side tasks in mind as well. For example, if Monday says Bailey—dance 530-615, Tumbling 615-645 and Mason—Baseball 6pm—this will remind me that I need to find someone to take Bailey to dance class so that we don’t miss Mason’s game and that I need to make sure Mason’s baseball uniform is washed and ready to go.

Get Some Help (When You Need It)

I often enlist the help of my mom if there are more activities going on than I can handle. She will take my son to practice while I coach a t-ball game or take him to a baseball game while my husband bowls and I coach. Friends will take my daughter to dance with them so that I can go watch my son’s baseball game.

Have a Plan for the Day

Even if you don’t always stick to it. I try to at least know what I have coming up that day and make a mental plan for how I am going to get everything done. We usually have at least an hour of down time between picking the kids up from school and getting them to their activities. I use this time to go over any school work they might have, talk about how their day went, get them a snack and just spend some time with them. We use the time to decompress and just hang out.

Use Extra Time to Your Advantage

Yes, there are days where using time to my advantage means sitting down for 30 minutes and just taking a breather. But that can also mean using a free moment to switch laundry or read a book to your kids or helping my son with his spelling list while my daughter is in dance class and we’re in the lobby watching.

Take Time for Yourself

For me this means getting up before my family at 5am and hitting the gym. I have to have time for myself in order to be a happy and sane mother and wife. It took a long time for me to adjust to getting up before the sun, but now that I am used to it, I miss it when I sleep in. I use the gym as my time to focus on me and my mental and physical health.

This also means playing volleyball one night a week. Volleyball has been my favorite sport since birth I feel like and I love that I can still play it as an adult. For you, me time might mean getting up early and reading a book and having a cup of coffee before the tiny humans need you to start getting them ready. It might mean a massage or a manicure or a night out with your friends. Whatever it means for you, make it a priority. Schedule it.

Communicate

I have to keep my husband updated on all of our activities. We share a calendar so we know what is going on. We are a team, we help each other out in whatever ways we can. I don’t add anything to the calendar without making sure there isn’t a conflict.

Know When It’s Too Much

There are times when I am overwhelmed. When I feel like I can’t keep it all going or get it all done. There are times when I am stretched too thin. Those are the times when I reach out to friends for help or I try to slow things down a bit. I try to work a little less at some of my more flexible jobs, or I put in some late night time on some baking I’ve committed to and sleep in the next morning instead of hitting the gym.

Plan Ahead

When I know I have big commitments coming, whether it be an event I am helping host, or a baking gig that requires a lot of time, or a week that I know will be crazy at work, I try to plan ahead and get as much done as I can ahead of time. I buy the ingredients for the cupcakes the week before I have to bake, I make some of the props/decorations for the Halloween party in September so that I know they are done and I am not rushing through last minute.

Try to Enjoy It

Yes, being busy means being tired and little to no downtime and stress. But it usually also means your kids are playing sports they enjoy and getting exercise and making friends, and you are getting to watch them do that. It means that you have a job that you enjoy, maybe multiple jobs that you enjoy and that are helping provide for your family. That you are taking care of yourself so that you are able to take care of your family. It means you are living life. Enjoy it!

Embrace the Crazy

While I feel like I have a decent hold on things for the most part, there are days and sometimes weeks where I am just along for the ride. Know that no one is perfect, no one has it all together, and that everyone messes up sometimes. Learn to find the funny in the fails and move on. You’re human, and you’re raising tiny humans who are soaking up everything you do. Let them see that while you are their superhero parent, you are also a person who gets overwhelmed or who forgets a water bottle for soccer, or who feeds their kids chicken nuggets at 830 because they just now had time for dinner. They’ll love you for it.